JD and JJB are rated as worst shops in Britain

Sports chains JD Sports and JJB Sports are the worst shops on the high street, according to a national survey of shoppers.

In the poll of 10,000 Which? members, JD Sports achieved the lowest score of 77 retailers, with a satisfaction rating of 33 per cent, six points worse than JJB Sports, tied for second last with Woolworths.

Respondents were asked to rate shops on customer service, convenience of opening times, shopping experience, prices and products.

JD Sports, which is listed on the London stock exchange, scored 6 per cent for customer service. One shopper said: "The shops are a jumbled-up mess with indifferent staff." Another remarked: "It's a relief to get out of the shop."

Customer service was also poor at JJB Sports, the chain started by David Whelan, the owner of Wigan football club, with staff lacking interest in its "messy" stores.

JD Sports and JJB Sports scored poorly for pricing, shopping experience and products. The rival Sportsworld chain also performed poorly in the annual survey.

Currys, Somerfield, PC World, Phones 4 U, Focus and Topshop were other members of the bottom 10. Shoppers complained that staff in Phones4U, formerly owned by billionaire John Caudwell, were too pushy. Comet, WHSmith (whose stores were described as "cluttered and crowded") and MFI also fared badly.

Waitrose and John Lewis, whose workforces own their businesses, were voted the best shops in Britain, with respective satisfaction ratings of 87 and 78.

They were followed by independent bookshops and independent electrical retailers, Waterstones, and Marks & Spencer. Independent toiletries and phone shops were in the top 20.

One customer of an independent sports store praised the friendly, knowledgeable staff: "It's good to be served by real people who have a real interest in their business and who want to help you."

However, when the price was right, customers were prepared to tolerate poor service. Budget retailers Lidl, Aldi, Wilkinson and Iceland all scored well overall despite unimpressive service.

"Local independent stores do exceptionally well in this year's survey, all scoring highly for customer service," said Which? "However, the presence of four discount stores in our top 20 shows that low prices mean shoppers can be tempted to make sacrifices in other areas."

JD Sports and JJB Sports, which have more than 400 shops each, made no comment, but JD Sports told Which? magazinethat it had appointedresearchers to find outthe reason for its unpopularity.